Kristal Lee

I love scary movies. Maybe that's a throw back to the days when my friends and I sat in the dark, telling stories of the escaped convict with a hook hand that came upon a couple "nekking" in the woods. The scare wasn't so much when the bad guy slaughtered them, but the build up leading to him to them. It was all in the suspense.

That's why I like the psycho-thrillers more than the slasher films.I want to be scared with the characters, I want to help them figure a way to survive. In a slasher film, I know they're all going to die. Where's the suspense in that?

The first R-rated movie I watched in a theater with my friends (I was a tween at the time) was Christine. We'd all read the book and just had to see it.

I've only watched The Shining once. That was enough. Just the mention of it still gives me the willies. Talk about lasting impressions.

1408 is top on my list too. I watched this in my living room with Professor X and a blanket pulled up to my face.

Hide and Seek kept me guessing. Who or what was Dakota Fanning's  imaginary friend. Why was it killing people? And I loved, loved the hook at the end. Ooh, chills.

Of course, I can't forget the original Psycho, and all the old monster movies like The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man. There's just something about watching those classics curled beneath the covers on a lazy Sunday afternoon that makes me quiver.

This week, my cousin asked me about a scary movie we'd watched as teenagers. One Dark Night. About a psychic vampire buried in a mausoleum.We had nightmares about that one. Of course, now that she's mentioned it, I must find it and watch it again. I hope it still has the fright factor.

What are your favorite scary movies?

Recently I purchased Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. It was recommended to me as a writer’s resource keeper. Of the many gems of Mr. King’s writing wisdom, the nugget I’d like to ooh and aah over today is his confession of writing rapidly with the door shut.

What? Close out the fur-babies, the hubby, my Nickelback iTunes? And what about stopping to make those pesky corrections after I re-read the paragraph I just wrote? Oh, the horror!

Well, Mr. King is the master of horror novels.

So, I allowed his little tidbit to marinate in my shocked and awed mind.

Mr. King explains that he literally closes his door and writes as quickly as he can, transferring what’s in his brain into words exactly as they come to him. He doesn’t stop for corrections and only flip-flops back to check characters and essential back story. He focuses on the goal of finishing the story by writing fast enough to outrun self-doubt. Revisions eventually come, but not until the first draft is complete and adequate time has passed so that sink holes in the plot and stumbling blocks in character building become as apparent as a shimmery full moon in a cloudless, black velvet sky.

Suddenly, I got it. For months, I couldn’t get past the first few chapters of my current WIP because I kept stopping to revise and rework it. As a result, the story twisted tumultuously and kept changing. Mainly, because I became unsure of where I was going with it. Self-doubt mowed me down and kept riding over me each time I made a change. I thought I was working toward improvement when I was actually disassembling the foundation and scattering it to oblivion.

Although I’ve been writing since childhood, I’m a novice when it comes to the craft of writing for publication. Knowing this, I read how-to books, take online classes, and whatever else I can find to do to learn the techniques I need to develop for success. I have charts and outlines and character interviews and storyboards. None have worked to help me complete this WIP.


Mr. King talks about starting with a situation that organically develops into a story. He defines the difference between plot and story as “Story is honorable and trustworthy; plot is shifty, and best kept under house arrest.”

I found that when I returned to the basic inciting situation for my hero and heroine, their story began to naturally evolve. Twists and turns and reveals are occurring that I never imagined when trying to systematically structure the storyline. I also found the writing is easier and faster than when I was struggling to make the jig-sawed plot pieces fit together. With resounding clarity, and a sliver of guilt, I accepted that formal plotting doesn't work for me.

Now, my mission is to write hard, write fast and let self-doubt choke on the dust my fingers leave behind while I'm tapping out that first draft. Do I expect it to be a masterpiece? Not in any lucid reality, but that’s okay. Ernest Hemingway said “The first draft of anything is sh**!” So, I’m in good company.
Reposted from New Kids on the Writer's Block